CN115002781A

CN115002781A - System and method for avoiding unauthorized access to an onboard vehicle network

Info

Publication number: CN115002781A
Application number: CN202210619449.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: B.A.劳尔
Original assignee: Gaogao Commercial Aviation Co ltd
Current assignee: Gaogao Commercial Aviation Co ltd
Priority date: 2016-06-01
Filing date: 2017-04-20
Publication date: 2022-09-02
Also published as: JP7009395B2; AU2017274279A1; EP3466018A1; EP3742701B1; US10298692B2; BR112018074939A2; CN109792591B; CA3026114A1; EP3466018B1; JP2019523478A; EP3742701A1; US20190230162A1; WO2017209851A1; US20170353555A1; CN109792591A; AU2017274279B2

Abstract

The present application relates to systems and methods for avoiding unauthorized access to an onboard vehicle network. Disclosed is a method of avoiding unauthorized access to a network on a vehicle, the network being an on-board network, and the method comprising: detecting a plurality of conditions at a portable computing device disposed on the vehicle; evaluating, by the portable computing device, at least one of a time or a weighting of the detected plurality of conditions to determine a confidence score, the confidence score indicating a likelihood that the portable computing device is operated, held, or carried by one or more persons; granting the portable computing device access to the on-board network when the confidence score is above a threshold; and denying the portable computing device access to the on-board network when the confidence score is below a threshold.

Description

System and method for avoiding unauthorized access to an onboard vehicle network

The present application is a divisional application of the invention patent application having national application number 201780047900.3 filed on 2017, 4 and 20 entitled "system and method for avoiding unauthorized access to an onboard vehicle network".

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of U.S. application No. 15/170649 (entitled "Systems and Methods for accessing accessed to On-Board Vehicle Networks," filed On 2016, 6/1), and U.S. patent application No. 13/781841 (entitled "terminating Human culture at Computing Devices," and issued as U.S. patent No. 9147065), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to avoiding or preventing unauthorized access of a network on a vehicle by a computing device. More specifically, the present disclosure relates generally to determining whether a condition detected by a computing device on a vehicle is consistent with a computing device operated by an individual, and granting or denying access to the computing device of an on-board network based on the determination.

Background

People are able to carry their personal computing or electronic devices (e.g., cell phones, laptops, e-readers, tablets, smart devices, etc.) onboard a vehicle and access an onboard communication network with their devices while the vehicle is en route. For example, an individual may utilize their laptop or smart phone to access a wireless network on the aircraft during flight, to communicatively connect to other devices on the aircraft, other devices on the ground, the internet, other ground-based networks, etc., and/or to access various services and applications. The on-board communication network is typically provided by a vehicle-based communication service provider (e.g., an aircraft-based wireless internet service provider) and may or may not be a secure network. As is well known, access to a secure network typically requires the computing device to provide a network key, password, or password before the device can connect to the network. While the network key, password, or password may initially be entered by an individual, the key, password, or password may be saved locally at the computing device for future automatic access or connection of the device. Alternatively, an automatic password decoder may be used by a computing device to automatically determine a network key, password, or password for a network and thereby automatically connect to the network.

For ease of discussion herein, entities that provide and/or operate at least a portion of one or more on-board communication networks and provide and/or operate communication services and connectivity for a common personal computing device via the one or more on-board communication networks are generally referred to herein as "service providers" or "on-board service providers. For example, the on-board service provider may be an airline (or another company that contracts with the airline) that provides in-flight communication services to passengers. The on-board communication network provided by the on-board service provider is referred to herein as a "public" on-board network because any member of the public may utilize their computing device to access the on-board network as long as certain criteria are met, such as providing a network key, agreeing to conditions and terms, use of the network and/or payment for services provided by the network, etc. As used generally herein, "user" means an individual, such as a passenger, crew member, or other human, who operates, utilizes, carries, holds, or otherwise interacts with a computing device. For example, a user may purchase or otherwise receive services (e.g., in-flight communication services, entertainment services, etc.) from an on-board service provider and may access those services via an on-board network using his or her personal device while he or she is on the vehicle.

In the united states of america, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issues technical requirements for vehicle-based communication service providers for the benefit of public safety. These technical requirements are directed to preventing or avoiding unauthorized or unauthorized access of a computing device to an onboard communication network for nefarious purposes. In particular, the technical requirements further provide, among other things, that the vehicle-based communication service provider not allow automatic access to its on-board communication network by public computing devices (e.g., computing devices owned and/or operated by members of the public). For example, a computing device housed in a suitcase within a cargo bay of an aircraft should be prevented from automatically accessing a utility on-board communication network, and thus from using the on-board network to obtain and/or alter critical flight data, disable aircraft electronics, penetrate other devices on the network, respond to a trigger or message from another device (e.g., a device on the ground) to initiate an undesirable or catastrophic action (e.g., detonate an explosive device, etc.). ). Accordingly, the goal of the technical requirement is to grant on-board communication network access to only those computing devices currently operated by individuals on the vehicle.

The approach proposed by FBI to meet its technical requirements is to require public computing devices on vehicles to pass visual or external challenge-response tests in order to be granted access to the on-board communication network. These challenge-response tests are generally easy to generate by a computer and easy to solve by a human, but difficult to solve by a computer. One such common test is the CAPTCHA (fully automated public turing test to distinguish computers from humans), which is typically a series of alphanumeric or other symbols commonly found on a keyboard, keypad, or equivalent user interface of a computing device. Symbols are distorted, or destroyed when provided, but are still generally human-readable. In a typical visual challenge-response test, a computing device generates a CAPTCHA word and provides the CAPTCHA word on a display. The person or human being views the distorted image and enters the displayed symbol via a keyboard, keypad, or equivalent. Accordingly, a response to a challenge is said to be provided "externally," such as by an entity external to the computing device. Examples of prior art CAPTCHA displays are shown in fig. 1A and 1B. Fig. 1A shows two series of distorted alphanumeric characters, each overlaid with an angled line, and fig. 1B shows three series of distorted alphanumeric characters, where the symbols are grouped together. Pictorial CAPTCHAs are also known and used, such as those that require an individual to select from a displayed set of images only those images that contain a particular object (e.g., a street sign or a flower). If the most correct external response to the challenge is received at the computing device, it is assumed that the computing device is currently operated by an individual or human, and the computing device is accordingly granted access to the onboard communication network.

Disclosure of Invention

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In an embodiment, a method of avoiding or preventing unauthorized access to a network on a vehicle may include detecting, at a computing device on the vehicle, one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions, wherein the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions do not include a response to a challenge raised at a user interface of the computing device. The method may also include determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual to the vehicle and indicating whether the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle. Additionally, the method may include granting the computing device access to the on-board network, wherein granting is based on a determination that the one or more externally-generated stimuli or conditions are context of the vehicle and indicate that the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle.

In an embodiment, a system for avoiding or preventing unauthorized access to a network on a vehicle includes means for detecting one or more stimuli or conditions external to a computing device (that is on the vehicle), wherein the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions do not include a response to a challenge raised at a user interface of the computing device. The system may also include means for determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual to the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle. Additionally, the system may further include means for granting the computing device access to the onboard network, a determination based on the context as to whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are vehicle and indicating that the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle.

In an embodiment, a system for avoiding or preventing unauthorized access to a network on a vehicle may include a detection engine communicatively coupled to one or more components of a computing device (which is on the vehicle and configured to detect one or more stimuli or conditions external to the computing device via coupling to the one or more components). The system may also include a determination engine coupled to the detection engine and configured to determine whether the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle based on one or more stimuli or conditions detected by the detection engine. The grant or denial of access by the computing device to the on-board network may be based on a determination by the determination engine as to whether the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle.

Drawings

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an example of an existing CAPTCHA to determine whether a human is interacting with a target computing device;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method of avoiding, preventing, and/or mitigating unauthorized or unauthenticated access of a computing or electronic device to a network on a vehicle;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate example comparisons of vehicle and target computing device accelerometer outputs over time;

FIG. 3C illustrates an example comparison of a stored signal strength of a device and a signal strength of a device held or utilized by a human on a vehicle versus time;

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for avoiding and/or preventing unauthorized access of a communication network on a vehicle by a target computing device; and

fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example vehicle having one or more on-board communication networks, access to which may be managed by the method of fig. 2 and/or by the system of fig. 4.

Detailed Description

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description of numerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legal scope of the description is defined by the words of the claims set forth at the end of this patent and their equivalents. The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment since describing every possible embodiment would be impractical. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented, using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims.

It will be further understood that, unless a term is explicitly defined in this patent using the statement "the term '______' as used herein is hereby defined to mean". or the like, it is not intended to be limited, either explicitly or implicitly, to the meaning of that term, except in its explicit or ordinary sense, and that such term should not be read as limited in scope by any statement made on any subsection of this patent other than the language of the claims. To the extent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent is referred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning, that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader, and it is not intended that such claim term be limited, by implication or otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless a claim element is defined by reciting the word "component" and a recited function without any structure, it is not intended to be interpreted based on an application of 35 u.s.c. § 112, chapter six.

As mentioned above, the approach suggested by FBI to meet the technical requirements that it does not allow automated access of computing or electronic devices to onboard public networks is to require the computing or electronic devices to pass a visual or external challenge-response test (e.g., CAPTCHA), which may take the form of alphanumeric, symbols and/or graphical representations. A challenge (e.g., CAPTCHA) may be provided or issued at a user interface of a target computing or electronic device, and if the most correct response to the challenge is received at the target computing device, then it is assumed that the computing device is currently operated by an individual or human. Accordingly, the computing device is granted access to the on-board network. Examples of CAPTCHAs and valid responses are provided in fig. 1A-1B, and are also described in the aforementioned U.S. patent No. 9147065.

However, the visual or external challenge-response approach suggested by FBI is not intuitive to the user and poses a service barrier to people (e.g., the public) in the vehicle. For example, challenge-response tests (e.g., CAPTCHAs) are typically issued via the target computing device's web browser. However, if the passenger does not launch a web browser, but instead launches an application on his device that does not require the use of a web browser, but does require the use of an onboard network, the passenger may be prevented from utilizing the application without knowing the cause. The passenger must somehow realize that he or she needs to open a browser in order to be redirected to a challenge-response web page in order to be granted access to the on-board network. One possible solution is to issue an on-board network-related challenge-response test within each application, but since the number of possible applications that can be loaded onto the passenger's device is impractical (and today is nearly unlimited), it is not realistic for an on-board network provider to have its challenge-response test embedded into each application (which may possibly be loaded onto the passenger's device).

In another aspect, the new techniques, systems, and methods disclosed herein leverage components, functionality, and/or user interfaces of a computing device (e.g., a "target" computing device) and other devices on a vehicle to avoid or prevent unauthorized and/or unauthorized access of the computing device to an onboard network, at least in part, by automatically determining whether an individual holds, carries, utilizes, operates, and/or otherwise interacts with the target computing device. Access to the on-board network and/or one or more services and/or applications may be automatically granted if conditions consistent with a target computing device operated, utilized, or held/carried by the individual are detected or otherwise determined. Importantly, the new techniques, systems, and methods can be performed without the need for knowledge of the passenger or user of the target computing device. Thus, the passenger's computing or electronic device is not only able to meet the tactical requirements of the FBI, but also does so in a manner that is transparent to the passenger or user. Indeed, the passenger or user may not even know that their device has been automatically censored to gain on-board network access. Thus, the novel techniques, systems, and methods disclosed herein not only can avoid or prevent unauthorized access of a communication network on a vehicle by a device to increase the security of people on the vehicle, but can also do so in a manner that preserves a satisfactory user experience.

In some embodiments, the target computing device may be a mobile electronic device, such as a smart device, a phone, a tablet computing device, an electronic reading device, a laptop computer, or other portable, mobile device having a memory, a processor, and a wireless interface. In some embodiments, the target computing device may be a stationary computing device, such as a desktop computing device, a server, or other computing device that is not generally moved to a different location. For ease of discussion, the techniques, systems, and methods are described herein with reference to a mobile computing device, but the techniques, systems, and methods are equally applicable to computing devices that remain substantially stationary. Generally, the target computing device (to which the novel techniques, systems, and methods disclosed herein are applied) is a public computing device (e.g., a computing device owned and/or operated by a passenger or other member of the public), although the novel techniques, systems, and methods described herein are equally applicable to other computing and/or electronic devices.

Additionally, while this disclosure will occasionally refer to a "vehicle" as an aircraft or spacecraft, this is merely exemplary and is for ease of discussion only and is not intended to be limiting. Indeed, the techniques described herein may be readily applied to other vehicles, such as other types of aircraft, ships, trains, automobiles, buses, or any other type of vehicle having the ability to move through the air, on the ground, through space, or in water.

Fig. 2 is a flow diagram of an example method 100 of avoiding, preventing, and/or mitigating unauthorized or unauthenticated access to a communication network on a vehicle. The method 100 may be used to grant or deny access to an onboard communication network by a target computing device on a vehicle. The method 100 may be performed locally at the target computing device, or the method 100 may be performed by a computing device (server, peer device, or another computing device) that is remote from and in communication with the target computing device. In some embodiments, the target computing device may perform at least a portion of method 100, and the remote computing device (with which the target computing device is in communication) may perform at least a portion of method 100. The on-board communication network may be a public or publicly accessible network, such as a network accessible by any member of the public via its computing or electronic devices, as long as certain criteria are met, such as providing appropriate network keys, agreeing conditions and terms, payment for use of the network and services provided by the network, and so forth. Furthermore, the on-board communication network may be secure or unsecure. Accordingly, while the method 100 below is discussed from the perspective of a target computing device, this is for ease of discussion and is but one of many embodiments. For example, in other embodiments, one or more of the blocks of the method 100 may be executed by a remote computing device on the vehicle. For example, a server or computing device of the on-board communication network may run one or more of the blocks of method 100. In an embodiment, a server or computing device of an on-board communication network may run all of the blocks of method 100.

Regardless, at block 102, the method 100 may include detecting, at a target computing device on a vehicle, one or more externally generated stimuli and/or external conditions. For example, the target computing device may get an indication indicating the occurrence of an externally generated stimulus or an external condition. The externally generated stimulus or external condition may be, for example, an action or activity whose action or activity is targeted at, a result of which affects, and/or is detected or otherwise observed by, at least some component or assembly of the target computing device. Thus, an externally generated stimulus or external condition may be a stimulus or condition that is neither generated by nor originated by any component or assembly of the target computing device, but is generated or originated by one or more separate entities other than the target computing device. The separate entity generating the stimulus and/or condition comprises, for example, a human or a person and/or another device on the vehicle. In an embodiment, the separate entity that generates or originates the stimulus or condition may be a device that is fixedly connected to the vehicle, as described in the latter section.

The detected externally generated stimulus or external condition (block 102) may be independent of (e.g., may or may not include) the user's response to a previously issued challenge (e.g., a CAPTCHA or CAPTCHA-like challenge) at the target computing device. For example, the detected stimulus or condition is not an attempt to recreate, render, or enter an ordered series of ASCII printable characters (which were previously provided on the user interface) or another user response to the challenge being raised. The detected stimulus or condition (block 102) may instead be another type of externally generated stimulus or external condition that is detected or observed by one or more components of the target computing device. In an embodiment, the externally generated stimulus or external condition may be an ad hoc stimulus or condition that is generated or originated independent of any challenge, e.g., that is not a response to a previously issued challenge. For example, the stimulus or condition may be generated or caused by a user of the target computing device, but not in question in response. In an embodiment, the self-organizing externally generated stimulus or condition may be generated or caused by another device on the vehicle.

Referring now to block 105, the method 100 includes determining whether the detected externally generated stimulus or external condition is contextual to the vehicle and indicative of the target computing device being utilized, operated, held, and/or carried by one or more persons on the vehicle. Such determination may be based specifically on the type(s) of external stimuli or external conditions that have been detected (block 102), as discussed in more detail in the latter section.

If the detected externally-generated stimulus or external condition is determined to be in the context of the vehicle and indicates that the target computing device is utilized, operated, held, and/or carried by one or more persons on the vehicle (e.g., "yes" leg of block 105), the target computing device may be granted or allowed at least partial access to the onboard network (block 108). On the other hand, if the detected externally generated stimulus or external condition is determined to indicate that the target computing device is not being utilized, operated, held, and/or carried by one or more persons on the vehicle (e.g., the "no" branch of block 105), a challenge (e.g., CAPTCHA) may be issued at the user interface of the target computing device (block 110). If the target computing device receives an appropriate response to the challenge within the predetermined amount of time (e.g., "yes" branch of block 112), the target computing device may be granted or allowed access to the on-board network (block 108). If an inappropriate response to the challenge is received at the target computing device, or if no response is received within a predetermined amount of time (e.g., the "no" branch of block 112), the target computing device may be denied access to the on-board communication network and/or prevented from accessing the on-board communication network (block 115). Thus, blocks 102 and 105 of method 100 may be used as an initial assessment as to whether the target computing device is held, carried, utilized, and/or otherwise operated by the individual, and the challenge response test corresponding to

blocks

110 and 112 may be used as a backup assessment as to whether the target computing device is held, carried, utilized, and/or otherwise operated by the individual. For example, if the passenger places his or her computing device on a tray table and falls asleep, he or she can still access the on-board communication network at a later time (e.g., via blocks 110, 112), even if the device is not actively operated and/or moved for a certain time.

However, in some embodiments of the method 100, block 110 and 112 may be omitted. In these embodiments, if the detected externally generated stimulus or external condition is determined to indicate that the target computing device is not being utilized, operated, held, and/or carried by one or more persons on the vehicle (e.g., the "no" branch of block 105), the target computing device may automatically deny access to the onboard network (block 115) without any intermediate challenge-response test or alternate evaluation.

It is noted that in the method 100, the

block

102 and 105 corresponding to the initial assessment as to whether the target computing device is utilized, operated, maintained and/or carried by an individual onboard the aircraft may be performed without using or requiring any user input. For example, block 102-105 may be performed automatically upon initialization of the target computing device or an application thereon. In another example, block 102-105 may be performed automatically when the target computing device detects the presence of an on-board communication network (e.g., detects a signal generated by a transceiver of the on-board network). In fact, the user of the target computing device may not have provided any indication that block 102-105 was performed, and thus may not be aware of the performance of block 102-105. Thus, at least a portion (if not all) of the external stimulus/condition detection and evaluation as to whether the target computing device is utilized and/or operated by an individual on the vehicle may be transparent to the user, thus providing a seamless, convenient, and satisfying user experience.

Several examples are provided below that illustrate at least portions of the concepts and technologies of the method 100. It is to be understood that these examples are not limiting, but are just a few of the many use cases to which the method 100 may be applied.

In an embodiment, the one or more externally generated stimuli or external conditions detected by the target computing device (block 102) may include one or more signals detected by the target computing device. The one or more signals may be generated by one or more transmitters or transceivers (which are on-board the vehicle and which may be fixedly connected to the vehicle). For example, an onboard Wi-Fi access point may generate a beacon or another wireless signal that is detected by a target computing device. Aspects of Wi-Fi access point generated signals (e.g., identifiers of onboard networks, such as SSIDs (service set identifiers) included in the signals, signal strength, etc.) may be checked to determine if the target computing device is contextual/on board the aircraft (block 105). For example, the particular SSID of the off-board network corresponding to the particular flight may be known a priori by the target computing device. If the SSID generated by the access point and detected by the target computing device matches a particular SSID known a priori by the target computing device, the target computing device may be assumed to be on-board the vehicle.

Additionally or alternatively, wireless signals generated by other types of transmitters or transceivers on the aircraft (e.g., cellular or pico transceivers, Bluetooth @orother short range wireless transceivers, Near Field Communication (NFC) transceivers, etc.) may be detected (block 102), and their respective signals may be checked (block 105) to ascertain whether the target computing device is in the context of/on the vehicle. For example, the presence, identification code, and/or content of a particular Bluetooth or another type of beacon may indicate that the target computing device is on a vehicle. For example, a beacon or another wireless signal generated by an onboard transceiver or transmitter may continuously transmit a flight number, an origin airport code, a target airport code, a tail (tail) number of the aircraft, and/or other data indicative of the physical aircraft and/or its particular flight, leg, or flight path. The vehicle and/or voyage information previously known to the target computing device transmitted to the vehicle by the onboard transceiver may indicate that the target computing device is located on the predicted vehicle for the predicted voyage and/or voyage path.

In embodiments, the characteristics of the one or more wireless signals detected at the target computing device may indicate whether the target computing device is not only on-board the vehicle, but may also indicate whether the target computing device is held, carried, utilized, or otherwise operated by an individual. For example, the perceived or detected strength of a signal transmitted by a Wi-Fi access point transmitting within the cabin of an aircraft will be stronger for devices located within the cabin of the aircraft and weaker for devices located within the cargo compartment of the aircraft. Thus, if the strength of the detected wireless signal is above a certain threshold, the target computing device may be deemed to be located within the aircraft cabin (and not in the cargo compartment) and thus operated or utilized by an individual. In another example, respective strengths of respective signals generated by two or more access points may be triangulated or otherwise compared to one another to determine whether a target computing device is disposed within a cabin of an aircraft.

In some cases, wireless signals generated by a transmitter or transceiver on an aircraft may be detected and examined over time to ascertain whether a target computing device is held, carried, utilized, and/or otherwise operated by an individual. For example, when an individual walks along the aisle of an aircraft with their device, their device may first detect access point a and may then detect wireless access point B. The sequential detection of the wireless access points over time may indicate that the target device is moving within the cabin of the aircraft and is therefore being operated, utilized, held, and/or carried by an individual.

In embodiments, other devices on the vehicle and whose signals may be used to determine whether the target computing device is held, carried, utilized, and/or otherwise operated by an individual on the vehicle (block 105) may include monitoring devices and/or sensing devices that monitor, measure, track, and/or sense dynamic characteristics and/or conditions corresponding to the vehicle while the vehicle is underway or en route. Data corresponding to and/or indicative of these dynamic characteristics and/or conditions is generally referred to herein as "vehicle voyage data" or "vehicle probe data". Examples of vehicle navigation or heuristic data include the spatial orientation of the vehicle (e.g., roll, pitch, and/or yaw), vehicle movement, vehicle position, vehicle speed, airspeed, appropriate acceleration, coordinate acceleration, heading, altitude, depth, and the like. Accordingly, the monitoring and/or sensing devices may include accelerometers and/or other types of spatial orientation detectors, gauges, pipes, gauges, sensors, and/or any other suitable measuring, sensing and/or detecting devices. Typically, but not necessarily, the monitoring, sensing and/or detecting devices that generate vehicle navigation or probe data are fixedly attached to the vehicle. For example, in an aircraft, such devices may be contained in Line Replaceable Units (LRUs).

The characteristics and/or conditions as determined at the on-board monitoring/sensing device may be compared to similar characteristics and/or conditions as determined at the target computing device to ascertain whether the target device is operated, held, and/or carried by an individual on-board the vehicle (block 105). For example, the output of an accelerometer that is fixedly connected to the vehicle may be compared over time with the output of an accelerometer disposed in the target computing device. If the accelerometer outputs are sufficiently similar and/or consistent in the same dimension over time, this may be an indication that the target computing device is stationary within the vehicle and therefore may not be operated or maintained by an individual. On the other hand, if the output of the accelerometer of the target computing device differs from the output of the vehicle accelerometer in the same dimension over time, this may be an indication that the user is manipulating, using, and/or operating the target computing device. Fig. 3A and 3B illustrate example comparisons of vehicle and target computing device accelerometer outputs over time. In fig. 3A, the output of the target computing device accelerometer is generally tracked using the output of the vehicle accelerometer, and thus the target computing device may be determined not to be operated, held, or carried by an individual on the vehicle (e.g., the "no" branch of block 105). In contrast, in fig. 3B, the output of the target computing device accelerometer differs from the output of the vehicle accelerometer over time in several cases (e.g., 118a, 118B, 118c), and thus the target computing device may be free to move within the cabin and is assumed to be operated, held, and/or carried by an individual. Accordingly, the target computing device may be granted access to the on-board network (block 108). Generally, any vehicle data generated, sensed, and/or detected by one or more devices on the vehicle (and in some cases fixedly connected to the vehicle) other than the target computing device may be compared (e.g., over time) with similar data generated, sensed, and/or detected by the target computing device. A determination as to whether the target computing device is held, carried, utilized, and/or otherwise operated by an individual on the vehicle may be determined based on the comparison (block 105). Thus, vehicle navigation or heuristic data may be used in method 100 to determine whether a target computing device is operated by an individual on a vehicle (block 105).

In addition to or in lieu of vehicle navigation or heuristic data, certain data generated, sensed, detected, and/or captured via one or more interfaces of the target computing device may indicate that the target computing device is operated, utilized, held, and/or carried by an individual on board the vehicle. For example, certain ad hoc stimuli generated at one or more user interfaces of the target computing device (e.g., stimuli generated in an ad hoc fashion rather than in response to an explicit challenge) may indicate that the target computing device is operated, utilized, held, and/or carried by an individual on a vehicle. In general, such ad hoc stimuli are stimuli that may be detectable by one or more components of the target computing device and may indicate the presence of an individual.

In embodiments, the one or more components on which the ad hoc stimulus is detectable may be a component of a target computing device that is capable of being directly manipulated by a human. In a mobile computing device, for example, such components may include: a keyboard; a keypad; a touch screen; a mouse; a track pad; a trackball; a plug-in connection for an SD (secure digital) card, a USB (universal serial bus) device, an ethernet or another network interface, a power line or another physical connector; a dial; controlling the volume; controlling the screen brightness; controlling a mute mode; a power on/off button; a drive eject button; a camera device; a microphone; or any other component of a computing device that is capable of being physically manipulated by a human. The target computing device may infer that a human being interacts with the target computing device when a change or manipulation of the state of any of the manipulatable components is detected. For example, a connection in a port of an external device to the target computing device, a swipe on a track pad or touch screen, a volume adjustment, and other such changes in the state of the manipulatable component may indicate that a human being is interacting with the target computing device. Thus, a change or manipulation of the state of one or more components of the target computing device may indicate that the target computing device is operated, utilized, held, and/or carried by an individual on-board the vehicle.

In embodiments, one or more components on which ad hoc stimuli may be detected at a target computing device may not require explicit physical actions to be performed by a human, but may otherwise detect the presence of a human. For example, the biometric sensor may sense, measure, or detect a fingerprint, an eye scan, a temperature of a touch consistent with a temperature of a human body, or some other biometric parameter that may indicate human interaction with the target computing device. Thus, a positive detection at the biosensor may indicate that the target computing device is operated, utilized, held, and/or carried by an individual on the vehicle.

In embodiments, one or more user interfaces may capture data indicating that a target computing device is operated, utilized, maintained, and/or carried by an individual on a vehicle. For example, while the target computing device is on a vehicle, a camera or another suitable optical interface of the target computing device may capture images of the surroundings and/or environment of the device. If the captured image includes physical features of the vehicle (e.g., seat back, tray table, window, etc.), the target computing device may be determined to be operated, utilized, held, and/or carried by an individual on the vehicle. Additionally or alternatively, if the captured image includes facial or body features of the individual, the target computing device may be determined to be operated, utilized, held, and/or carried by the individual on the vehicle. Additionally or alternatively, if the content of the captured image changes over time, the target computing device may be determined to be operated, utilized, held, and/or carried by an individual on the vehicle because it is likely that the target computing device is moved. The timestamp of the captured image may be compared to the time period the vehicle was en route to, for example, ensure the time validity of the captured image.

In some embodiments, the signal generated by the device may be measured and/or monitored over time, for example, by monitoring devices, sensors, and/or systems on the vehicle to determine whether the device is held or otherwise operated by an individual. For example, a pattern of payload generated and/or received by the apparatus (e.g., an amount of payload generated and/or received over time) may be measured and/or monitored to determine whether the detected payload pattern is indicative of a human being operating the apparatus. In another example, detected signal strengths of transmissions generated by an apparatus may be measured and/or monitored over time to determine whether signal strength magnitudes and variances of the apparatus are indicative of human operation and/or holding the apparatus.

For purposes of illustration, fig. 3C shows an example comparison over time between the detected signal strength (reference numeral 120) of a device on a vehicle and held, utilized, or operated by an individual within a compartment of the vehicle and the detected signal strength (reference numeral 122) of a device on the vehicle but stowed, for example, in the compartment of the vehicle and thus not held, utilized, or operated by an individual on the vehicle. The respective signal strengths may be detected, for example, by one or more transceivers located within a cabin of the vehicle and typically fixedly connected to the vehicle (e.g., by a Wi-Fi access point or other type of wireless transceiver and/or its respective system). As shown in fig. 3C, as the individual holding the device 120 moves around in the cabin over time, the detected intensity of the wireless signal generated by the device changes as the individual moves closer to and further from the transceiver(s) and/or sensor(s) disposed within the cabin. On the other hand, the detected intensity of the wireless signal generated by the stowed device 122 has a smaller variance over time than the held device 120, as the stowed device 122 is substantially fixed over time. As also shown in fig. 3C, the magnitude of the detected signal strength generated by the stowed device 122 is typically less than the retained device 120 because the detected signal strength of the stowed device 122 suffers from greater inherent path loss as compared to the retained device 120 due to greater distance from the transceiver(s) or sensor and/or due to materials in the transmission path of the signal, such as floor and seat materials. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the signal strength threshold 125 may be defined (e.g., in advance). In these embodiments, a signal strength greater than threshold 125 may indicate a device disposed within the cabin and/or held or otherwise operated by an individual (e.g., reference numeral 120), while a signal strength less than threshold 125 may indicate a device disposed at a location outside of the cabin (e.g., cargo compartment) (e.g., reference numeral 122).

Returning now to block 105, in some embodiments, determining whether the externally generated stimulus and/or condition is indicative of the individual operating, utilizing, holding, and/or carrying the target computing device may include determining a confidence score based on the externally generated stimulus/condition. The confidence score may be determined based on one or more detected or derived externally generated stimuli and/or conditions to determine a probability or confidence level of the target computing device being operated, utilized, held, and/or carried by the individual. For example, the confidence score may be based on a plurality of externally generated stimuli and/or conditions obtained and/or detected for a certain time period. In an embodiment, the higher the rate of detected externally generated stimuli and/or conditions that are solely indicative of the presence of a human, the higher the confidence score. The determined confidence score may be compared against a threshold to determine whether the target computing device is utilized, operated, held, and/or carried by the individual. In an embodiment, the threshold may be configurable.

In embodiments, one or more of the detected and/or derived externally generated stimuli and/or conditions may be weighted with respective values. Each respective weight value may indicate a strength or weakness with which its corresponding stimulus/condition indicates that the human being actually interacted with the computing device. For example, compass changes may be considered more indicative of the actual presence of a user at a target computing device than detected speech at a microphone, as the detected speech may be ambient rather than strongly indicative of the immediate user of the target computing device. Accordingly, detected compass changes may be assigned a higher or stronger weight than the detection assigned to voice. In embodiments, the values of one or more detected stimuli/conditions may be aggregated or totaled, for example, for a given time period or interval. When the aggregate value exceeds the threshold, the target computing device may then infer that a human is interacting with the target computing device (block 105), and access may be granted accordingly (block 108).

In embodiments, the target computing device may monitor the occurrence and/or type of detected external stimuli and/or conditions over time. For example, the target computing device may set a timer, and as long as at least one subsequent external stimulus or condition is detected before the timer expires, the target computing device may infer that the human being is still interacting with the target computing device (block 105). Accordingly, the target computing device may be granted access to the on-board communication network (block 108), and the timer may be reset. However, if the timer expires without detecting another stimulus/condition, access to the on-board communication network may be terminated, denied, or temporarily stopped (not shown). In embodiments, after termination or denial of access, another detected stimulus/condition and/or response to an explicit challenge may be required before access is resumed.

In some embodiments, a combination of timing and weighting of stimuli and/or conditions may be considered and evaluated to generate a confidence score that is utilized in determining whether access to a target computing device is to be granted or denied. In an example, the confidence scores may be compared against a threshold. A confidence score above a threshold may be considered to indicate that the target computing device is operated by a human, while a confidence score below a threshold may be considered to indicate that the target device is not operated by an individual. The timer, weighting of stimuli/conditions, and/or threshold may be modifiable as desired.

For example, in the embodiment of the method 100 shown in fig. 2, at block 105, a combination of factors including the strength of the signal generated by the target computing device over time (e.g., as shown in fig. 3C), a comparison of the acceleration values detected over time of the target computing device and an accelerometer fixedly connected to the vehicle (e.g., as shown in fig. 3A and 3B), and optionally a payload traffic pattern (not shown) generated by and/or received at the target computing device over time, may be used to create a confidence score corresponding to the target computing device. The determined confidence score may be compared to a threshold to determine whether the score is indicative of the individual operating and/or maintaining the target computing device. If the determined confidence score indicates that the individual is operating and/or maintaining the target computing device, the method 100 may proceed to block 108. If the determined confidence score indicates that the person is not operating and the target computing device is not maintained, the method 100 may proceed to block 110 or to block 115. Of course, other factors in addition to or in lieu of signal strength, acceleration, and payload patterns may be used in generating the confidence score for the target computing device. Further, the various factors may be individually weighted as needed to determine the confidence score for the target computing device.

Fig. 4 is an example of a block diagram of a system 200 for avoiding and/or preventing unauthorized access of a target computing device 205 to an on-board communication network 208 on a vehicle. On-board communication network 208 may be a public or publicly accessible network, such as a network via which any member of the public may access computing or electronic devices, as long as certain criteria are met (e.g., providing appropriate network keys, agreeing to conditions and terms, use of the network and/or payment for services provided by the network, etc.), and on-board communication network 208 may be secure or unsecure. System 200 may operate in conjunction with a target computing device 205 for which access to an on-board network 208 is to be granted or denied. Indeed, in some embodiments, at least a portion of system 200 is disposed at or on target computing device 205. Further, in embodiments, the system 200 may run one or more portions of the method 100 of FIG. 2. In some embodiments, the system 200 may run all of the method 100.

System 200 may include a detection engine or unit 210, which is shown in fig. 4 as being disposed at a target computing device 205. In an embodiment, the detection engine or unit 210 may comprise a set of computer-executable instructions stored on a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., memory 212) of the target computing device 205. The computer-executable instructions may be executable by, for example, processor 215 of target computing device 205. In some embodiments, at least a portion of detection engine or unit 210 may include firmware and/or hardware. Regardless, whether implemented by software, firmware, and/or hardware, the detection engine or unit 210 may be configured to receive, detect, and/or otherwise derive an indication of an externally generated stimulus and/or condition, and provide information related to the stimulus and/or condition to the determination engine or unit 218 for analysis.

In an embodiment, the determination engine or unit 218 may comprise a set of computer-executable instructions stored on a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of the target computing device 205 (e.g., on the memory 212 or another local memory). The computer-executable instructions 218 may be executable by the processor 215 of the target computing device 205, for example. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the determination engine or unit 218 may include firmware and/or hardware. However, whether implemented by software, firmware, and/or hardware, determination engine or unit 218 may be configured to determine whether a detected stimulus or condition indicates that target computing device 205 is being utilized, operated, held, and/or carried by an individual or human.

It is noted that while detection engine or unit 210 and determination engine or unit 218 are shown in fig. 4 as being stored in memory 212 of target computing device 205, this is merely an illustrative and thus non-limiting embodiment. For example, at least one of the detection engine 210 or the determination engine 218 may not reside on the target computing device 205, but may reside on a memory (and be executable by a processor) of another computing device disposed within the vehicle and communicatively connected to the target computing device 205. In an embodiment, another computing device (on which detection engine 210 and/or determination engine 218 reside) may be accessed by target computing device 205 via a network and/or communication channel 225 other than utility on-board communication network 208. For example, the target computing device 205 and the other computing device may communicate by utilizing a near field communication channel. In another embodiment, another computing device (on which detection engine 210 and/or determination engine 218 reside) may be accessed by target computing device 205 via on-board network 208, but this access may be limited access. For example, target computing device 205 may be granted access only to remote detection engine 210 and/or to remote determination engine 218 via on-board network 208, and/or limited access of target computing device 205 to network 208 may only be granted within a certain time window.

In fig. 4, an indication of the externally generated stimulus and/or condition may be provided to detection engine 210 by one or more components 220 of target computing device 205. Thus, detection engine 210 may be communicatively coupled to one or more components or devices (generally referred to herein by reference numeral 220) included in or part of target computing device 205.

The components or devices 220 included in the target computing device 205, with which the detection engine 210 may be communicatively connected, may include one or more user interfaces 220A-220G via which an individual may provide input to the target computing device 205. Examples of user interfaces 220A-220G may include a keyboard, keypad, mouse, touchpad, touch screen, microphone, track pad, trackball, and/or other user interfaces. Additionally or alternatively, the components 220 of the target computing device 205 (to which the detection engine 210 may be communicatively connected) may include one or more user-manipulable components 220H-220M and 220V. Typically (but not necessarily), such user-manipulable components 220H-220M and 220V may include mechanical components that are accessible from outside of the computing device 205 and via which a user may physically manipulate to operate or change an aspect or state of the target computing device 205. Examples of user-manipulable components may include: a power on/off switch; a control or switch to mute or mute the target computing device 205; one or more ports to receive data storage devices, such as memory cards, optical disks, portable memory storage devices, and the like; one or more ports or interfaces to receive one or more wired network connections 220V; a port to receive a power cord connector; and other user-manipulable components. For example, ad hoc stimuli corresponding to a user utilizing the user interface 220A-220G and/or manipulating the components 220H-220N, 220V may generate corresponding indications or signals indicative of the stimuli sent from the components 220A-220N, 220V to the detection engine 210.

In an embodiment, detection engine 210 may be communicatively coupled with one or more components 220N-220T (which provide an indication of the spatial orientation, movement, velocity, acceleration, position, etc. of target computing device 205). For example, the detection engine 210 may be communicatively coupled with an accelerometer, a compass 220N, GPS (global positioning system) receiver, an altimeter, and/or another type of component that is included in the target computing device 205 and that detects, senses, and/or measures the spatial orientation, movement, velocity, acceleration, position, etc. of the target computing device 205.

In some embodiments, detection engine 210 may be communicatively connected with at least one component 220 of computing device 205 via a corresponding component application 222 stored on computing device 205. For example, as shown in fig. 4, the detection engine 210 is communicatively connected with the compass component 220N via a component application 222 (e.g., a compass application) that is stored in the memory 212 or another local memory of the target computing device 205 and is executed by the processor 215 of the target computing device 205. The component application 222 can communicate an indication of the condition detected by the compass component 220N to the detection engine 210. In general, detection engine 210 may be communicatively connected with any component 220 of target computing device 205 on which externally generated stimuli and/or conditions may be detected or inferred (and in some cases by communicating with a respective component application 222 of a particular component 220). In some embodiments, a single component application 222 may serve multiple components 220.

The target computing device 205 may include one or more communication interface components 220U-220Z. For example, the target computing device may include one or more wireless communication interfaces 220U (e.g., transceivers and antennas for Wi-Fi, cellular, short-range wireless, near-field communication, etc.) via which the target computing device 205 is able to communicatively connect to one or more types of wireless networks, and/or the target computing device may include one or more wired communication interfaces 220V (e.g., ethernet, HDMI, and/or other physical ports) via which the target computing device 205 is able to communicatively connect to one or more types of wired networks. Computing device 205 may utilize one or more of its wireless communication interfaces 220U (and optionally one or more of its wired communication interfaces 220V) to connect to on-board network 208 (if access thereto is granted).

Further, in addition to components 220A-220V, the target computing device may include other components 220W-220Z, such as a bus, various memory or storage devices (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Memory (ROM)), and other components. It is noted that although a limited number of components 220A-220Z are shown in FIG. 4, other numbers and types of components may be included in target computing device 205. For example, target computing device 205 may include fewer components, more components, and/or different components than shown in fig. 4.

Returning now to the detection engine 210, upon receiving an indication of detection of an externally generated stimulus or condition from one of the components 220 of the target computing device 205, the detection engine 210 may provide an indication or information to the determination engine 218 related to the externally generated stimulus/condition. For example, detection engine 210 may indicate the particular component on which the stimulus/condition was detected, the nature or content of the stimulus/condition, a timestamp, and/or other information related to the detected stimulus/condition. Based on the indication and/or information received from detection engine 210, determination engine 218 may determine whether the detected externally generated stimulus/condition indicates that target computing device 205 is being utilized or operated, held, and/or carried by an individual in a manner such as described previously with respect to fig. 2. For example, the determination engine 218 may evaluate whether information transmitted by the beacon and received via the wireless interface 220U includes expected data (e.g., flight number, tail number, SSID, etc.), the determination engine 218 may process images received via the optical interface to determine whether images of the personal and/or vehicle environment are included in the images, the determination engine 218 may track the number and types of externally generated stimuli and/or conditions obtained over time, the determination engine 218 may weight various stimuli and/or conditions, the determination engine 218 may determine and/or maintain a confidence score, and compare the confidence score to a threshold, and so forth, e.g., in a manner such as previously described with respect to the method 100 of fig. 2.

In embodiments where the determination engine 218 compares vehicle voyage or probe data generated by a device fixedly connected to the vehicle (e.g., an onboard sensing and/or monitoring device) to data generated by the sensing and/or monitoring components 220N-200T of the target computing device 205 (e.g., as described above with respect to fig. 2, 3A, and 3B), the determination engine 218 may receive and/or obtain vehicle voyage or probe data from other devices (e.g., that are fixedly connected to the vehicle) and/or applications running thereon via one or

more communication interfaces

220U, 220V. In these embodiments, limited access to on-board communication network 208 may be provided to target computing device 205 such that detection engine 210 can receive and/or obtain vehicle voyage or heuristic data from other devices and/or applications. For example, access to on-board network 208 may be granted only to detection engine 210, and/or detection engine 210 may be granted permission to communicate only with particular on-board devices and/or applications (which provide vehicle navigation or heuristic data). In another embodiment, rather than utilizing utility on-board network 208 in a limited manner to enable communication between detection engine 210 and an on-board vehicle flight data provider, detection engine 210 may communicate with other devices and/or applications using a communication connection other than utility on-board network 208. For example, the detection engine 210 and the onboard devices and/or applications providing vehicle navigation data may communicate via some other communication channel 225 (separate or apart from the common onboard communication network 208).

Based on the determination as to whether target computing device 205 is operated, held, and/or carried by the individual on-board the vehicle, determination engine 218 may cause general access to on-board communication network 208 by target computing device 205 to be granted or denied. If access is granted, target computing device 205 may be free to communicatively connect to on-board network 208 using one or more of its

communication interfaces

220U, 220V. For example, upon a determination that general access to network 208 is granted, target computing device 205 may automatically join Wi-Fi on-board network 208 using a network key or password (which was previously stored at target computing device 205). If access is denied, determination engine 218 may cause access to on-board network 208 by target computing device 205 to be blocked. For example, determination engine 218 may cause

communication interfaces

220U, 220V to be disabled and/or turned off (e.g., logically and/or physically disabled and/or turned off), and/or may cause applications running on target computing device 205 to be prevented from accessing

communication interfaces

220U, 220V. In some embodiments, an indication of granted or denied access may be provided on the user interface 220A-220G.

In some embodiments, partial access to on-board communication network 208 by target computing device 205 may be granted by determination engine 218. For example, if the confidence score is within a certain range, partial access may only be granted for certain applications and/or services provided via the on-board network 208.

As previously described, in some embodiments of the system 200, the detection engine 210 and/or the determination engine 218 may be stored in the memory 212 of the target computing device 205. For example, the detection engine 210 and/or the determination engine 218 may be implemented as one or more applications that are stored and run on the target computing device 205. In an embodiment, the detection engine 210 and/or the determination engine 218 may be included in one or more applications provided by the on-board service provider for downloading to the passenger's device to enable the device to access on-board networks and services provided by the on-board service provider (e.g., an on-board service application of the on-board service provider). In these embodiments, detection engine 210 and/or determination engine 218 may be associated with a user and/or user account of the on-board service provider and may be downloaded to target computing device 205 from a server (or set of back-end computing devices) of the on-board service provider. Typically, but not necessarily, one or more back-end servers are located on the ground and are accessible via ground-based public and private networks (e.g., the internet). In some cases, however, the detection engine 210 and/or the determination engine 218 may be downloaded from a server on the vehicle.

Detection engine 210 and/or determination engine 218 may be downloaded onto target computing device 205 before the user and/or target computing device 205 initially attempts to connect to on-board communication network 208. Generally, the downloaded detection engine 210 and/or the determination engine 218 may include data corresponding to a user and/or a user account. Such user data or user account data may include an identification of the user, a photograph and/or image of the user, an identification of the account, payment, billing, account balance, airline routes, onboard network keys, passwords and/or passwords, and/or other data that may be used for onboard identification, authentication, authorization, and/or verification. At least a portion of the user data contained in the downloaded engines 210 and/or 218 may be used to determine whether the target computing device 205 is being utilized, operated, carried and/or maintained by a user associated with an account or by any user of that aspect, for example, in a manner such as described previously with respect to fig. 2.

In an embodiment, when target computing device 205 detects the presence of on-board network 208, detection engine 210 may be automatically initialized and/or invoked to determine whether the subject target computing device 205 is currently operated, utilized, maintained, and/or carried by an individual. In embodiments where the detection engine 210 is included in an application provided by an onboard service provider for downloading to passenger devices to enable the devices to access onboard networks and services (e.g., an onboard service application), the detection engine 210 may be automatically initialized and/or invoked when the onboard service application is initialized. Other triggers may cause detection engine 210 to be invoked automatically, such as initialization of target computing device 205, user opening of any application on target computing device 205, explicit user request, receipt of user input at any user interface of the target computing device, and so forth. Thus, with the system 200, the target computing device 205 can be automatically verified as being utilized, operated, held, and/or carried without any explicit user action (e.g., opening a browser to respond to a CAPTCHA challenge). Thus, the user is provided with a seamless and intuitive user experience and faster access to the onboard network 208 and available services and applications than CAPTCHA-only authentication techniques.

Further, while fig. 4 illustrates one embodiment of the system 200, other embodiments (not shown) may be possible. For example, the detection engine 210 and the determination engine 218 may be aggregated at the target computing device 205 into a single overall engine, unit, and/or application. In another example, at least part of the component application 222 may be included in the detection engine 210.

In yet another example, the detection engine 210 may reside on the target computing device 205, while the determination engine 218 may reside on another computing device (not shown) fixedly connected to the vehicle. In this example, limited access to on-board communication network 208 may initially be provided to target computing device 205 such that detection engine 210, in embodiments, is able to communicate with on-board determination engine 218 to determine whether target computing device 205 is operated, used, held, and/or carried by an individual. In another embodiment, rather than utilizing utility on-board network 208 in a limited manner to enable communication between detection engine 210 and on-board determination engine 218, detection engine 210 and on-board determination engine 218 may utilize a communication connection other than utility on-board communication network 208. For example, detection engine 210 and on-board determination engine 218 may communicate by utilizing near field communication or some other communication channel 225 that is separate or apart from utility on-board network 208.

Fig. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a vehicle 300 having one or more on-board communication networks 302, at least a portion of which is public. That is, the computing or electronic devices 305a, 305b, 305c carried on the vehicle 300 by passengers, crewmembers, and other members of the public may grant access to at least one common portion of the one or more on-board communication networks 302 via, for example, the method 100 of fig. 2 and/or the system 200 of fig. 4. The vehicle 300 is shown in fig. 5 as an aircraft in flight, but the techniques described herein may be readily applied to other vehicles that provide transportation for people, such as other types of aircraft, ships, trains, automobiles, buses, or any other type of vehicle that has the ability to move through the air, on the ground, through space, or in water. Further, one or more on-board networks 302 may include, for example, utility on-board network 208 and/or other network 225 of fig. 2, and indeed any of the components, principles, methods, devices, apparatuses, and/or techniques described with respect to fig. 5 may be applicable to any of the components, principles, methods, devices, apparatuses, and/or techniques described with respect to fig. 2-4. Additionally, the one or more on-board communication networks 302 may include one or more other public and/or private networks.

One or more on-board networks 302 may include a plurality of nodes. A "node," as generally referred to herein, may comprise one or more computing devices having one or more processors, a network interface, and one or more memories storing computer-executable instructions. The instructions may be executed by the processor(s) to perform one or more actions. For example, the computer-executable instructions may be executed to communicate over one or more networks via a network interface for various purposes, such as to discover other nodes, services, and/or applications, publish or provide services to the networks, consume published or provided services, and/or perform other actions. Additionally or alternatively, a node may run instructions stored thereon to host various services, and/or run various applications, which may be made available, at least in part, to other nodes. In some embodiments, a node additionally or alternatively includes firmware and/or hardware operable to perform one or more actions. In some embodiments, a node may include one or more user interfaces and/or one or more network interfaces.

In some cases, a node may be a logical entity. For example, a node may comprise a virtual machine hosted by or running on one or more computing devices, or a "node" may comprise an interpretation script or engine (e.g., determination engine 218) hosted by or running on one or more computing devices. Thus, in some embodiments, multiple nodes may reside on a single physical compute device.

In some embodiments, the node may be located on or within a vehicle such that the node transmits along with the vehicle as the vehicle moves, e.g., a "transmitting node". For example, the transmitting node may be an end-user consumer computing device, such as a laptop computer, a handheld portable computing device, a telephone, a tablet or smart device, or other device that is not generally fixed or rigidly attached to the vehicle by a tangible physical connection. In other examples, the transmitting node may be a computing device that is fixed and/or rigidly connected to the vehicle using a tangible physical connection such that the node is prevented from moving around the vehicle in an uncontrolled manner as the vehicle moves. For example, a fixedly connected transmission node (e.g., a navigation device, a cooking electronics unit, a cabin electronics unit, or another device) may be included in an on-board Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) and fixedly connected to the vehicle. Indeed, the vehicle may transmit a plurality of nodes which are at least partly rigidly and fixedly connected to the vehicle and which are at least partly not rigidly and fixedly connected to the vehicle. Typically, but not necessarily, the nodes including sensors and/or monitoring devices that generate vehicle navigation or probe data may be fixedly connected to the vehicle.

For ease of discussion, the one or more on-board communication networks 302 disposed within the vehicle 300 are generally referred to herein using a singular tense. It is to be understood that on-board communication network 302 may include one or more wired networks, one or more wireless networks, or a collection of wired and wireless networks. The one or more networks 302 may include one or more private and/or public networks. For example, network 302 may include utility onboard communication network 208 of FIG. 2. In some embodiments, the network 302 may include a variety of different types of wired and wireless network links or data-carrying channels that implement different link layer and network layer protocols. For example, the one or more on-board networks 302 may include one or more wireless networks or interfaces 308a, such as a cellular communication network, a Wi-Fi network, a wireless ethernet network, Bluetooth @orother short range wireless communication systems, near field wireless communication (NFC) systems, or the like, that are located to a cabin of an aircraft. For example, on-board devices or nodes having wireless communication capabilities may be connected to network 302 via one or more wireless interfaces 308 a. In an embodiment, at least one of wireless interfaces 308a may provide access to utility onboard communication network 208.

Additionally or alternatively, the network 302 may include one or more wired networks or interfaces 308b, such as wired ethernet, local call or another type of CSMA/CD (carrier sense multiple access/collision detection) network, token ring, FDDI (fiber distributed data interface), ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), and so forth. Examples of nodes that may be connected to network 302 via wired interface 308b include: a cabin entertainment/media node storing in-flight entertainment and other consumable content; and/or means for service purposes (e.g., communication between crew members, passenger service and security, etc.) by crew members (reference numeral 310). In an embodiment, at least one of wired interfaces 308b may provide access to utility on-board communication network 208.

Further, in some embodiments, the network 302 may include an aircraft data bus or another suitable interface 308c to an onboard aviation specific network 312 via which a connection may be established to, for example, a cooking pot electronic node, flight instrument system, onboard maintenance system, or the like. For example, the data used by aviation node 312 may conform to RINC-429, MIL-STD-1553, IEEE 802.3, or another suitable standard. Generally, the airline-specific network 312 can be a private network that precludes public use or access. Still further, the network 302 may include other types of networks and interfaces 308d to other types of nodes (not shown). Examples of some, but not all possible, types of networks that may be included in the one or more networks 302 are described in U.S. patent application No. 13/675200 (filed 11/13 2012, entitled "Vehicle Data Distribution System and Method") and in U.S. patent application No. 13/675190 (entitled "group System for Vehicle Data Distribution," and now issued as U.S. patent 9088613), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Another node of the on-board communication network 302 may be a data distribution node or device 315. The data distribution node or device 315 may be fixedly connected to the vehicle (e.g., via LRU when the vehicle 300 is an aircraft) and may be via which data is received to the vehicle 300 and transferred from the vehicle 300 while the vehicle 300 is en route and/or stationary. For ease of reading, the data distribution node or device 315 is referred to herein using a singular tense, as the node/device 315 may have a singular logical appearance to other nodes of the network 302. However, the data distribution node or device 315 may be implemented with multiple physical computing devices or nodes, as desired.

In general, the data distribution node or device 315 may be communicatively connected to one or more transceiver/

antenna systems

318a, 318b, 318c through which data is communicated via corresponding wireless links or bearers communicatively connectable to antennas/transceivers (either disposed on the ground or external to the vehicle 300). For example, the data distribution node 315 may transmit and/or receive data via a satellite transceiver/antenna system 318a, the satellite transceiver/antenna system 318a communicating data from the vehicle 300 and/or receiving data onto the vehicle 300 using a satellite wireless link or bearer 320a (e.g., over Ku band, Ka band, L band, S band, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the data distribution node 315 can transmit and/or receive data via an air-to-ground (ATG) transceiver/antenna system 318b, the ATG transceiver/antenna system 318b communicating data from and/or receiving data onto the vehicle 300 using a non-satellite ATG wireless link or bearer 320b (e.g., over an S-band, a cellular/LTE band, or another designated band). Also additionally or alternatively, the data distribution node 315 can send and/or receive data via a Wi-Fi, cellular, or another ground-based wireless transceiver/antenna system 318c and link/bearer 320c to communicate data from the vehicle 300 and/or receive data onto the vehicle 300. (generally, the ground-based wireless transceiver/antenna system 318c may have a shorter range than the

other systems

318a, 318b and may only be utilized when the vehicle is not in flight and/or at a stop.) in some embodiments, the vehicle 300 may include a transceiver/antenna system (not shown) through which data may be communicated via a corresponding air-to-air wireless link that communicatively connects the vehicle 300 with another aircraft. Although fig. 5 illustrates the vehicle 300 as including various types of transceiver/

antenna systems

318a, 318b, 318c via which data may be communicated to and from the vehicle 300, in some embodiments, the vehicle 300 may include only one of the transceiver/

antenna systems

318a, 318b for data transfer and/or may not include the transceiver/antenna system 318 c. Examples of data transfer links for transferring data to/from the on-board network 302 may be found in the above-mentioned U.S. patent application No. 13/675200 and U.S. patent No. 9088613.

In general, the data distribution node or device 315 may aggregate or otherwise encapsulate data received from on-board nodes for transfer from the vehicle 300 via one or more of the transceiver/antenna systems 318a-318c and their respective wireless links 320a-320 c. In addition, the data distribution node or device 315 may decompose or otherwise unpack data received on-board the vehicle via one or more of the transceiver/antenna systems 318a-318c and their respective wireless links 320a-320c, and may route the various data packets contained therein to respective on-board target nodes via the network 302. Examples of embodiments of data distribution nodes or devices 315 can be found in the above-mentioned U.S. patent application No. 13/675200 and U.S. patent No. 9088613.

The data distribution device 315 may enable the personal tablet 305a, computer 305b, phone/smart device 305c, and/or other computing or electronic devices that are carried on the vehicle 300 and granted access to the utility on-board network 208 (e.g., via the method 100 and/or system 200) to communicate with other devices that are not on the vehicle 300 or on the ground. For example, data may be communicated between one of the on-board devices 305a-305c and the ground-based computing device via the on-board utility network 208, one or more other portions of the network 302, the data distribution node 315, and one or more of the transceivers/

antennas

318a, 318b and their

respective wireless links

320a, 320 b. Additionally or alternatively, data distribution device 315 may enable one or more of on-board devices 305a-305c to communicate with other devices (which are onboard the vehicle) via on-board utility network 208 and other portions of network 302, so long as appropriate permission and/or authorization criteria are met. Examples of managing communications between On-Board public devices 305a-305c (and/or Applications running thereon) and other On-Board and/or off-Board nodes, devices, and/or Applications can be found, for example, in commonly owned U.S. patent No. 9087193, U.S. patent application No. 15/092844 (filed 2016, 4, 7, entitled "Systems and Methods for On-Board Access Control"), and U.S. patent application No. 15/092884 (filed 2016, 4, 7, entitled "Systems and Methods for automatic Applications to On-Board Services"), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Typically, but not necessarily, the airline node 312, cabin media/service node 310, and data distribution node 315 are implemented in Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), which are fixedly connected to the vehicle. An LRU may be an electronic assembly that performs a specific function in the aircraft 100 and may be removed or replaced as a unit and serviced at an aircraft maintenance center or maintenance work area.

In embodiments, aviation node 312, data distribution node 315, and/or other nodes of network 302 may include one or more devices and/or components that generate, sense, monitor, and/or detect vehicle travel or heuristic data. For example, the airline node 312, the data distribution node 315, and/or other nodes of the network 302 can include one or more accelerometers, compasses, GPS receivers, altimeters, and/or other components that detect or sense spatial orientation, position, location, movement, speed, and other vehicle navigation or heuristic data while the vehicle 300 is en route. In an embodiment, at least a portion of the detected and/or sensed vehicle travel data may be transmitted from the airline node 312, the data distribution 315, and/or other nodes of the network 302 to one or more detection engines 210 corresponding to one or more target computing devices 205 (e.g., detection engines 210 corresponding to devices 305a, 305B, 305 c) for comparison with data detected or sensed by components of the target computing devices 205, e.g., in a manner similar to that described with respect to fig. 2, 3A, 3B, and 4.

In embodiments, the data distribution node 315 may include one or more of the component applications 222 communicatively coupled with respective sensors, monitors, detectors, and/or the like (e.g., one or more of the components 220N-220T of FIG. 2). Component application 222 may collect various vehicle voyage or probe data from one or more on-board sensors, monitors, and/or other devices or components, and may cause at least the content of the collected vehicle voyage or probe data to be passed to one or more detection engines 210 corresponding to one or more target computing devices 205 (e.g., detection engines 210 corresponding to devices 305a, 305B, 305 c) for comparison with data detected or sensed by components of target computing devices 205, e.g., in a manner similar to that described with respect to fig. 2, 3A, 3B, and 4.

While the foregoing text sets forth a detailed description of numerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the scope of the patent is defined by the words of the claims set forth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment since describing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented, using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims and all equivalents thereto. By way of example, and not limitation, the present disclosure herein contemplates at least the following:

1. a method of avoiding unauthorized access to a network on a vehicle, the network being an onboard network, and the method comprising a computing device on the vehicle to detect one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions, the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions not including a response to a challenge raised at a user interface of the computing device. Additionally, the method includes determining that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual of the vehicle and indicating that the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle; and granting the computing device access to an on-board network via which the computing device can communicate with one or more other computing devices, the granting being based on a determination that the one or more externally-generated stimuli or conditions are contextual to the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle.

2. The method of the previous aspect, further comprising denying the computing device access to the onboard network based on a determination that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions do not indicate that the computing device is utilized by anyone onboard the vehicle.

3. The method of any of the preceding aspects, further comprising (i) preventing a particular challenge at a user interface of the computing device based on a determination that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are not indicative of the computing device being utilized by anyone onboard the vehicle; and (ii) one of the following steps: granting the computing device access to the on-board network when receiving an appropriate response to the particular challenge; or deny the computing device access to the on-board network when (a) an inappropriate response to a particular challenge is received or (b) no response to a particular challenge is received within a certain time interval.

4. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual of the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle comprises determining a confidence score based on the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions and comparing the confidence score to a threshold.

5. The method of the previous aspect, wherein determining the confidence score based on the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions comprises determining the confidence score based on a set of multiple externally generated stimuli or conditions detected by the computing device for a time interval.

6. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions indicate that the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle comprises obtaining an indication of an input received at a user interface of the computing device.

7. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual of the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle comprises determining that data captured by an optical interface of the computing device while on the vehicle changes over time.

8. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual of the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle further comprises the image captured by the optical interface of the computing device while on the vehicle comprises an image of at least a portion of the person.

9. The method of any of the preceding aspects, further comprising obtaining, at the computing device, respective indications of one or more signals generated by one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle; and wherein determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions is contextual to the vehicle and indicating that the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle is based on the respective indication of the one or more signals.

10. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual of the vehicle based on the respective indications of the one or more signals and indicating that the computing device is utilized by the one or more persons on the vehicle comprises at least one of comparing respective values of the one or more signals to a threshold value or comparing respective values of the one or more signals to data generated by the computing device.

11. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein obtaining respective indications of one or more signals generated by one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle comprises obtaining an indication of a strength of a signal generated by a wireless access point on the vehicle.

12. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein obtaining the respective indications of the one or more signals generated by the one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle comprises obtaining the respective indications of the respective signals generated by each of the plurality of wireless transmitters fixedly connected to the vehicle detected by the computing device.

13. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein obtaining the respective indication of the one or more signals generated by the one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle comprises at least one of obtaining a Service Set Identifier (SSID) or another identifier of the onboard network or obtaining an indication of a service provided by another device via the onboard network.

14. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein: obtaining respective indications of one or more signals generated by one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle comprises obtaining an indication of an output generated by a spatial orientation detector fixedly connected to the vehicle; and determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual to the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle comprises comparing an output generated by the fixed connection spatial orientation detector to an output generated by the spatial orientation detector of the computing device.

15. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein obtaining the respective indications of the one or more signals generated by the one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle comprises obtaining an indication generated by the one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle and comprising an output indicative of at least one of a vehicle, a particular trip of the vehicle, or one or more conditions detected by a monitoring device on the vehicle while the vehicle is en route.

16. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein the computing device is a mobile computing device.

17. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein granting the computing device access to the on-board network (via which the computing device is capable of communicating with one or more other computing devices) comprises granting the computing device access to the on-board network (via which the computing device is capable of communicating with another computing device that is not on the vehicle).

18. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein at least a portion of the method is performed by an application containing machine-readable instructions stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of the computing device and executed by a processor of the computing device.

19. The method of any of the preceding aspects, wherein at least part of the method is performed by the application upon initialization of the application.

20. Means for performing any of the preceding aspects.

21. The method of any one of claims 1-19 performed by a system.

22. The system of aspect 21, wherein the system comprises computer-executable instructions stored on the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors.

23. The system of any of aspects 21-22, wherein the system comprises firmware.

24. The system of any of aspects 21-23, wherein the system comprises hardware.

25. The system of any of aspects 21-24, wherein at least a portion of the system is disposed on a computing device.

26. The system of any of aspects 21-25, wherein at least a portion of the system is disposed on another computing device on the vehicle.

27. A system for avoiding unauthorized access to a network on a vehicle, the network being an on-board network, and the system comprising: means for detecting one or more stimuli or conditions external to the computing device (which is onboard the vehicle), the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions not including a response to a challenge raised at a user interface of the computing device; means for determining whether one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual to the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle; and means for granting the computing device access to the on-board network, the granting based on a determination that the one or more externally-generated stimuli or conditions are context of the vehicle and indicate that the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle.

28. The system of the previous aspect, further comprising any of aspects 1-26.

29. The system of any of aspects 27-28, further comprising means for denying the computing device access to the on-board network based on a determination that the one or more externally-generated stimuli or conditions do not indicate that the computing device is utilized by an individual on the vehicle.

30. The system of any of aspects 27-29, further comprising means for providing a particular challenge at a user interface of the computing device based on a determination that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions do not indicate that the computing device is utilized by anyone onboard the vehicle; and one of the following: means for granting the computing device access to the on-board network upon receiving an appropriate response to the particular challenge; or means for denying the computing device access to the on-board network when (i) an inappropriate response to a particular challenge is received or (ii) no response to a particular challenge can be received within a certain time interval.

31. The system of any of aspects 27-30, wherein the means for determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual of the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by the one or more persons on the vehicle comprises means for determining a confidence score based on more than one externally generated stimulus or condition detected for a time interval and means for comparing the confidence score to a threshold.

32. The system of any of aspects 27-31, wherein the means for determining whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual of the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by the one or more persons on the vehicle comprises at least one of: means for obtaining an indication of an ad hoc input received at a user interface or manipulatable component of a computing device; or for determining that data captured by the optical interface of the computing device while on-board the vehicle is at least one of: over time, including an image of at least a portion of an individual, or including an image of at least a portion of a vehicle.

33. The system of any of aspects 27-32, further comprising means for obtaining respective indications of the one or more signals generated by the one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle; and wherein the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions correspond to respective indications of one or more signals generated by one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle.

34. The system of any of aspects 27-33, wherein the determination as to whether the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual to the vehicle and indicative of the computing device being utilized by the one or more persons on the vehicle is based on at least one of: a comparison of respective values of one or more signals generated by one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle to a threshold value; a comparison of respective values of one or more signals generated by one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle with user account data stored at the target computing device; or a comparison of respective values of one or more signals generated by one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle with data generated by sensors or detectors in the computing device.

35. A system for avoiding unauthorized access to a network on a vehicle, the network being an on-board network, and the system comprising: a detection engine communicatively coupled to one or more components of a computing device on a vehicle and configured to detect one or more stimuli or conditions external to the computing device via coupling to the one or more components; a determination engine coupled to the detection engine and configured to determine whether the computing device is utilized by one or more persons on the vehicle based on the one or more stimuli or conditions detected by the detection engine, wherein the granting or denying of access to the onboard network by the computing device is based on the determination by the determination engine.

36. The system of the previous aspect, further comprising any of aspects 1-34.

37. The system of any of aspects 35-36, wherein the one or more components of the computing device include one or more wireless interfaces communicatively coupled to one or more other devices (which are fixedly connected to the vehicle), and the determination as to whether the computing device is utilized by one or more persons is based on at least one of content or strength of wireless signals generated by the one or more other devices and received at the computing device via the one or more wireless interfaces.

38. The system of any of aspects 35-37, wherein the one or more components of the computing device include a sensor or monitor, and the determination as to whether the computing device is utilized by one or more persons is based on a comparison over time of: (i) data generated by a sensor or monitor of a computing device, and (ii) vehicle voyage or probe data generated by a sensor or monitor of another device fixedly connected to the vehicle.

39. The system of any of aspects 35-38, wherein the one or more components of the computing device include at least one of a user interface or an optical interface via which the self-group data is received, and wherein the one or more stimuli or conditions are based on the received self-group data.

40. The system of any of aspects 35-39, wherein the detection engine comprises a first set of computer-executable instructions; determining that the engine comprises a second set of computer-executable instructions; and the computing device is a mobile computing device having (i) a memory having stored thereon at least one of the first set of computer-executable instructions or the second set of computer-executable instructions, and (ii) a processor executing at least one of the first set of computer-executable instructions or the second set of computer-executable instructions.

41. The system of the previous aspect, wherein the processor is triggered to execute the first set of computer-executable instructions when at least one of: initialization of the computing device; initialization of a web browser at a computing device; initialization of a first application containing a first set of computer-executable instructions; initialization of a second application at the computing device; or detecting, at a computing device, a wireless signal transmitted by a device fixedly connected to the vehicle.

Thus, many modifications and variations may be made in the techniques and structures described and illustrated herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present claims. Accordingly, it should be understood that the methods and apparatus described herein are illustrative only and are not limiting upon the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of avoiding unauthorized access to a network on a vehicle, the network being an on-board network, and the method comprising:

detecting a plurality of conditions at a portable computing device disposed on the vehicle;

evaluating, by the portable computing device, at least one of a time or a weighting of the plurality of detected conditions, thereby determining a confidence score indicating a likelihood that the portable computing device is operated, held, or carried by one or more persons;

granting the portable computing device access to the on-board network when the confidence score is above a threshold; and

denying the portable computing device access to the on-board network when the confidence score is below a threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting a plurality of conditions comprises detecting at least one condition generated external to the portable computing device.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein detecting a plurality of conditions comprises detecting at least one condition associated with the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein detecting the at least one condition associated with the vehicle comprises detecting at least one signal generated by another device on the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting a plurality of conditions comprises detecting at least one condition via a sensor or a user interface of the portable computing device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein detecting at least one condition via the sensor or a user interface of the portable computing device comprises detecting a condition other than a user's response to a challenge issued by the portable computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

detecting the plurality of conditions comprises detecting one or more respective occurrences of one or more conditions of the plurality of conditions over a time interval; and

evaluating at least one of a time or a weighting of the detected plurality of conditions to determine a confidence score includes evaluating a time of the one or more respective occurrences of the one or more conditions detected within the time interval to determine a confidence score.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating at least one of (i) time or (ii) weighting of the detected plurality of conditions to determine a confidence score comprises aggregating respective weighted values of the detected plurality of conditions to determine a confidence score.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein aggregating the respective weighted values for the detected plurality of conditions to determine the confidence score comprises aggregating the respective weighted values for the detected plurality of conditions over a time interval to determine a confidence score.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the confidence score is above the threshold and grants the portable computing device access to the on-board network, and wherein the method further comprises:

monitoring for any occurrence of any one of said plurality of conditions over a time interval;

maintaining access to the on-board network by the portable computing device when the occurrence of any of the plurality of conditions is detected during the time interval; and

denying the portable computing device access to the on-board network when the occurrence of any one of a plurality of conditions is not detected during the time interval.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein execution of the method is automatically initiated upon at least one of: initialization of an application stored on one or more memories of the portable computing device, initialization of the portable computing device, a user request, or receiving a user input at any user interface of the portable computing device.

12. A portable computing device configured to request access to a network on a vehicle, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the portable computing device, cause the portable computing device to:

detecting a plurality of conditions, an

Evaluating at least one of a time or a weighting of the detected plurality of conditions to determine a confidence score indicating a likelihood that the portable computing device is operated, held, or carried by one or more persons.

13. The portable computing device of claim 12,

further comprising at least one of: a user interface component, a user-manipulable component, or a wireless communication interface component; and

wherein at least one of the user interface component, user-manipulable component, or wireless communication interface component detects one or more of a plurality of conditions.

14. The portable computing device of claim 12, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the portable computing device to:

evaluating at least one of a time or a weighting of the detected plurality of conditions to determine a confidence score.

15. The portable computing device of claim 12, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the portable computing device to:

receiving access to the onboard network when the confidence score is above a threshold; and

when the confidence score is below a threshold, a denial of access to the on-board network is received.

16. The portable computing device of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors automatically execute the computer-executable instructions based on at least one of:

initialization of an application in which computer-executable instructions are included, initialization of any other application stored on one or more memories of the portable computing device, initialization of the portable computing device, a user request, or receiving a user input at any user interface of the portable computing device.